Fishy-Fishy, Food, and Floats!

May 12, 2012- A local organization in Empangeni was celebrating its 40th birthday. They invited the welfare to partake in the celebration by having a float and a boot sale. Two of our committee members took a lot of time getting the decorations ready for the float ready.

Ron and I went and helped them the night before to put it all together. I thought that it turned out really cute! Boot sales here are kind of like a group garage sale. Along with the bricker-brack we sold food, cold drinks, painted faces, and did fishy-fishy. This was one of the most successful boot sales that we as an organization have ever had.

While everyone was busy with selling stuff and cooking, Dan and I were entertaining kids with the Fishy-Fishy game. It was a great part of the fundraiser and all of the prizes had been donated. Although it was a long day in the sun, we had a great time and I look forward to more boot sales in the future!

Got Flour?

May 11, 2012- A local store in town gives the welfare bags of flour, food, and toiletries that have been damaged. Today we received a lot of flour and we had just the place for it! It turns out to be a big mess for us but we are willing to distribute it because there are people who need it and they are willing to use it even if it is open.

We were unloading it and Nana was having a splendid time! The flour that fell out of the bags will be used to make play-dough for the Crèche. I am glad that the local store can give this to people in need instead of throwing it out.

Ballito!!!!

May 7, 2012 This weekend a group of KwaZulu Natal Peace Corps Volunteers gathered in Ballito for the first ever provincial conference. It was put on by PCV’s for PCV’s. My mother would have had a heart attack when the khumbi dropped Dan and I off on the side of the freeway. There is no khumbi to Ballito so we had to take the khumbi to Durban. Then they just dropped us of and we walked into town. I will be completely honest; I was a bit more excited to go to Ballito then to have a conference. Needless to say, we learned some great things from the other PCV’s and it was great to meet PCV’s from other classes. We stayed at a local backpackers and then had the conference in a hotel. For those of you who are not familiar with a backpacker, it is very similar to a hostel. It is a room with multiple bunk beds and one bathroom. They are made for people who travel and don’t want to spend a lot of money on a hotel room. The people who run them are always super chill and excited to have Americans. This particular backpacker had an African Shower.

I for some reason thought it was the coolest thing ever and would not shut up about it. It was outside and covered by grass and plants. The town of Ballito was amazing! It was right on the beach and it had a really cool boardwalk. One night after dinner a bunch of PCV’s and I went for a walk on the boardwalk. We walked down on the beach and looked in the rocks for sea anemones and octopi. We were able to see both and the sea anemones were cool when you touched them, they would wrap around your finger. Luckily we had a marine biologist in our group and he was able to show us everything.The last day we were there I wanted to get up early and walk the boardwalk before the sun rose. Gary (another PCV) joined me and it was great, we even saw dolphins. It turned out to be a great weekend.